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Understanding 9/11SUPER BONUS - "New Mic, Who Dis?" (opens with purposefully bad mic!)
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- Publication date
- 2022-03-29
Today's Archive SUPER BONUS (which ends in a dilemma seeking listener input to resolve) is a tech talk concerning the most significant change in Nerd Noise Radio production since its inception - a new Mic, new USB Audio input device, and revised post-processing technique. No, the first thing you hear in the recording is NOT the new mic, it's a cheapie Jabra headset that was in my work laptop bag. I wanted the narration to use something crappier so that the clips of the better mics could stand out and shine. I did at least put the Jabra through a gauntlet of post-processing to make it less crappy sounding. But the source material was so poor than there was only so much I could do.
For the entirety of Nerd Noise Radio podcast history, going back to January 2017 (actually, December 2016 for "The Fire and the Glory" which predated the launch of the podcast) I have been using the same mic and USB XLR audio interface, a $100 AudioTechnica AT2020 Side-Address, Large Diaphragm Condenser Mic going into a $100 M-Audio MobilePre. Over the course of time, I have learned how better to use the mic, and to produce with it, also gradually adding things like windscreens, pop filters, and shock mounts. So, if you listen to the difference in production quality, between, say, C1E2 and C1E62, especially as it concerns the intro and outro and most especially of all, my on-the-mic time, the difference is nothing short of tectonic! The production value epochs are loosely, C1E1-C1E10, and then C1E11-C1E20, then C1E21-C1E40, C1E41-C1E50, and now finally, C1E51 to the present, at C1E63.
For the entirety of Nerd Noise Radio podcast history, going back to January 2017 (actually, December 2016 for "The Fire and the Glory" which predated the launch of the podcast) I have been using the same mic and USB XLR audio interface, a $100 AudioTechnica AT2020 Side-Address, Large Diaphragm Condenser Mic going into a $100 M-Audio MobilePre. Over the course of time, I have learned how better to use the mic, and to produce with it, also gradually adding things like windscreens, pop filters, and shock mounts. So, if you listen to the difference in production quality, between, say, C1E2 and C1E62, especially as it concerns the intro and outro and most especially of all, my on-the-mic time, the difference is nothing short of tectonic! The production value epochs are loosely, C1E1-C1E10, and then C1E11-C1E20, then C1E21-C1E40, C1E41-C1E50, and now finally, C1E51 to the present, at C1E63.
And yet, it's always been the same mic and the same USB device. Everything up through C1E63, minus C1E60 where we had to fallback to my laptop mic backup copy because of a production foible, and the little "get me tracks for Best of 2020/2021" earcatcher that I've tacked onto the beginning of all my 2022 reruns thus far, have all been the same hardware. Up until April of 2020, the AT2020 and MobilePre have been doing their thing into GarageBand on macOS on the same Mac Mini, minus the Golden Episode pt. 1 and 2 (C1E50a and C1E50b), and the family voice recording portions for C1E51 (my 40th birthday episode), which each found the two running into the Android DAW "AudioEvolution", via a really old, really cheap Lenovo N22 Chromebook - which still managed to do the job relatively decently, to be fair! Especially given the sheer amount of dialog the two Golden Episode installments had included. The 2019 April Fool's Special Announcement was also an outlier as it was recorded in Audio Evolution on my Google Pixel phone's built-in microphone. At that time, it was a Pixel 2 XL. I would then go onto the 4 XL before now wielding a Pixel 6 Pro.
At least so far as I can recall, literally everything else involving my voice on the show, and guesting on other people's shows have all been the AT2020 on the MobilePre going into GarageBand on macOS, up through April 2020, when I switched to Ubuntu Studio (Linux), and by extension, a mix of Audacity and Ardour - but still using the AT2020 and MobilePre.
And now, for the first time in show history, that's changing! My $100 M-Audio MobilePre has been replaced by a much cleaner-sounding $230 Focusrite 4i4 (I ended up giving the MobilePre to my mom for her music business ("Valerie's Flute Entertainment - https://www.valwedgeworth.com/)). And I have also bought a pair of $100 Rode Podmic dynamic microphones, each with a high quality $130 Rode PSA1+ Boom Arm, and a $20 Rode WS2 windscreen. Also, each running through a $150 Cloudlifter. I discuss the difference between Dynamic and Condenser mics in the recording itself, so I'll just let you hear it.
I also up til this point have never really employed any post-processing on any of my voice other than volume adjustments, and on very rare occasions (the first of which, C1E47a - and the remainder of the TG16 mini-series along with it), noise reduction. For reasons I explain in the recording, circumstances have now forced me to change that, and so now I have at least a basic working knowledge of how to post-process - which only serves to up my game.
And so that will even further change the sound of Nerd Noise Radio moving forward - starting with AT THE LATEST, May's C1E64, if not even also April's C2E7. As you'll hear in the recording, this much is unsettled yet, BECAUSE, I'm not sure yet which mic I'll be using for Channel 2! Almost the entire second half of this production is dedicated to the Channel 2 mic question, and it's where I am needing input from the listener! I know what the trade offs are between the two mics as it concerns Channel 2, but can't decide which way to go. So this will be your chance as the listener to have a hand in shaping the sound of Channel 2 moving forward! Here's your chance to have a say in the production of Nerd Noise Radio. So, please don't miss it!
I'm excited, frankly! As I think it will take the production value up significantly! :-)
Anyway, I'll save what else I'd like to say here for what I say in the production itself. Time for timestamps and a handful of incidental track and composer details.
I'm excited, frankly! As I think it will take the production value up significantly! :-)
Anyway, I'll save what else I'd like to say here for what I say in the production itself. Time for timestamps and a handful of incidental track and composer details.
- Intro (Jabtra) - 00:00:00
- Mic Tests 1: "Naked Podmic and Naked AT2020" at my parent's house:
AT2020 #1 - 00:06:28
Podmic #1 - 00:07:16
Podmic #2 - 00:08:26
AT2020 #2 - 00:09:38
C1E61 AT2020 Intro Snippet [previously recorded - not a recreation]: 00:12:13
C1E61 Podmic Inttro Snippet [a recreation made over at my parents' house]: 00:15:35
- Additional Narration (Jabra) - 00:18:48
- MobilePre vs Focusrite examples [AT2020 All]
MobilePre 1 - 00:19:59
Focusrite 1 - 00:20:09
Mobile Pre 2 - 00:20:18
Focusrite 2 - 00:20:32
Mobile Pre 3 - 00:20:45
Focusrite 3 - 00:20:56
- More Narration (Jabra) - 00:21:11
- THE BEST MIC RECORDINGS IN THIS ENTIRE EPISODE (what I hope all my future recordings will sound like!)
AT2020 Raw vs Podmic Raw - 00:26:48
AT2020 Raw vs AT2020 Finessed - 00:28:07
Podmic Raw vs Podmic Finessed - 00:29:28
AT2020 Finessed vs Podmic Finessed - 00:30:47
- Even More Narration (Jabra) - 00:32:07
- Earlier [First - and Overzealous] attempts at Post-Processing
Podmic (with music): 00:34:28
AT2020 (with music): 00:36:24
- And Yet Further Narration (Jabra) - 00:40:26
- Clips from the C2E7 Track Sort session (with Hugues)
Clip A (00:49:54 - 00:55:45)
AT2020 Raw vs Podmic Raw - 00:49:57
AT2020 Raw vs AT2020 Finessed - 00:51:24
Podmic Raw vs Podmic Finessed - 00:52:52
AT2020 Finessed vs Podmic Finessed - 00:54:19
Clip B (00:55:46 - 01:00:25)
AT2020 Raw vs Podmic Raw - 00:55:48
AT2020 Raw vs AT2020 Finessed - 00:56:58
Podmic Raw vs Podmic Finessed - 00:58:07
AT2020 Finessed vs Podmic Finessed - 00:59:16
Clip C (01:00:25 - 01:06:33)
AT2020 Raw vs Podmic Raw - 01:00:28
AT2020 Raw vs AT2020 Finessed - 01:02:00
Podmic Raw vs Podmic Finessed - 01:03:31
AT2020 Finessed vs Podmic Finessed - 01:05:02
Clip D (01:06:33 - 01:14:24)
AT2020 Raw vs Podmic Raw - 01:06:36
AT2020 Raw vs AT2020 Finessed - 01:08:33
Podmic Raw vs Podmic Finessed - 01:10:30
AT2020 Finessed vs Podmic Finessed - 01:12:26
Clip E [....no pun intended...] (01:14:24 - 01:22:38)
AT2020 Raw vs Podmic Raw - 01:14:26
AT2020 Raw vs AT2020 Finessed - 01:16:29
Podmic Raw vs Podmic Finessed - 01:18:32
AT2020 Finessed vs Podmic Finessed - 01:20:34
Conclusion - and question (Jabra) - 01:22:38
Total Production Runtime: 01:25:10
Background music information:
01) Funky Radio [NNR Intro / Outro Edit] - original version from Jet Grind Radio - Dreamcast - B.B. Rights
02) I'll Introduce - Yu Yu Hakusho: Makyou Toitsusen - Satoshi Murata, Katsuhiko Suzuki, Aki Hata, and/or Norio Hanzawa
03) Lovely City - Lovely Planet - Multiplatform - Calem Bowen
04) Stage 1 - Chip Chan Kick - PCFX - Hitoshi Sakimoto and/or Masaharu Iwata
05) Kimi wo HoeHoe Musume - Idol Hakkenden - Kiyohiro Sada and/or Tomoo Misato
06) Message from Nightopia - Naofumi Hataya
07) Track 9 - Graduation II - PC Engine - Isao Mizoguchi
- Addeddate
- 2022-03-30 03:42:49
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